Ripple's USD-backed stablecoin RLUSD began trading on Upbit, South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume, across three pairs: the Korean won, bitcoin and USDT, according to an announcement posted by the exchange.
The listing expands RLUSD's presence in Asia's second-largest economy at a time when stablecoin adoption in South Korea remains concentrated among dollar-pegged tokens issued by competitors. USDT and USDC dominate Korean trading volumes, and the addition of a Ripple-issued alternative on Upbit, which processed roughly 40 percent of South Korean cryptocurrency trading volume in 2024, gives institutional and retail traders a new on-ramp to the token.
Ripple launched RLUSD in December 2023 as a competitor to Tether and Circle's USDC, initially issuing the token on the XRP Ledger before expanding to Ethereum. The stablecoin is collateralized 1:1 by dollars held in US-regulated institutions. The company has since added the token to major exchanges in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan as part of a regional push to compete with stablecoins used in Ripple's remittance networks.
Upbit, founded in 2017 and operated by Dunamu, is the dominant exchange for Korean won trading pairs and handles the majority of domestic retail and institutional cryptocurrency activity. The platform added support for RLUSD across three trading pairs to accommodate both direct purchases in won and traders who use bitcoin or USDT as intermediate assets.
Ripple's stablecoin offerings remain a secondary business line compared to its XRP token and enterprise payment software, but the company has invested heavily in geographic expansion. The South Korean listing follows prior launches in Hong Kong and Southeast Asian markets where Ripple holds partnerships with remittance corridors and institutional counterparties.
Upbit's decision to list RLUSD three months after Circle added USDC support on the same platform shows competition among stablecoin issuers for Korean exchange distribution. The ratio of dollar-pegged stablecoins to exchange listing options remains asymmetric: USDT trades across dozens of Korean pairs while RLUSD now has access to only three. If Ripple intends RLUSD to function as a primary settlement layer for Korean traders rather than a secondary alternative, the company will need to negotiate broader pair support or deeper liquidity commitments on competing platforms like Bithumb and Coinone.
